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what if you moved in to the house and something is not working...

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  • 13-02-2007 12:14pm
    #1
    *tamara*
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4 ✭


    I moved in to the new house recently. I saw the house once before myself and my boyfriend moved in, but because it's relatively new we were sure that everything there is working fine. First thing that came up was the alarm that isn't working. Selling agent asure us that house has the alarm so we insured the house under the condition of having the alarm. First day- we want to switch it on and get ourself more familliar and there you go- it isn't working. The company that installed it years ago doesn't exist..or seems like they don't exist anymore because we can't get in touch with them. My question is who is reliable for this. Should I be getting back to the selling agent? I know that we should have checked the alarm before we moved in but we were told it's there and it is working. What can you do if you discovered something in the house that could have happened in between the day when we saw the house and the day we have moved in? If you have similar expierience please give us some advice. Thanks a lot!


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    #2
    mcaul
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,493 ✭✭✭mcaul


    I doubt if you have any comeback from the agent as there is always an out clause in their brichures.

    Any alarm company / electrician should be able to fix the alarm and it shouldn't cost too much. - If you're in an exposed area that can be windy or if you have a velux window with an alarm connection ask them to decrease the sensitivity of the connections - this will stop false alarms.

    (Heavy rain on velux type windows can set alarms off)


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    #3
    Oryx
    Subscribers Posts: 19,425 ✭✭✭✭Oryx


    When I took possession of my (old) new house, most of the lightbulbs, some door handles and a complete inner door were missing. I asked the solicitor who handled the sale for me what I could do, but as I couldnt prove they were definitely there earlier I had no claim. And even if I did, she reckoned it wasnt worth the hassle. (Not the same situation I know, but...)

    If it were me Id contact any alarm company (or more than one) and ask them to inspect the system and see what it will cost to repair or replace. Then if its outrageously expensive ask your solicitor if you have any comeback.


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    #4
    *tamara*
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4 ✭*tamara*


    Yeah...seems like I'll have to shop around and do it myself. At least I have learnt something. This is how it is when you are first time buyer and too excited about the new house...


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    #5
    miles teg
    Registered Users Posts: 372 ✭✭miles teg


    KatieK wrote:
    When I took possession of my (old) new house, most of the lightbulbs, some door handles and a complete inner door were missing. I asked the solicitor who handled the sale for me what I could do, but as I couldnt prove they were definitely there earlier I had no claim. And even if I did, she reckoned it wasnt worth the hassle. (Not the same situation I know, but...)
    Bloody hell that's scabby. I thought it was illegal to remove light bulbs from a house after selling it.

    When I moved into my house, had a few issues with the previous owner leaving junk and the vendor was quite helpful about it. my house also had an alarm that didn't work but they explicitly stated that. If it's in the brouchure that there's an alarm, then i would imagine it's false advertising. Get onto the vendor


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    #6
    Dub13
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 21,252 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dub13


    Moved from Consumer Issues,you should get a better response here.

    Dub13


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    #7
    poolergirl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21 ✭poolergirl


    When we moved into the house the alarm was over-sensitive and kept on going off in high wind etc. so we had to get it looked at. The company was gone out of business too, did a little shopping around and I e-mailed Best Alarms and they gave me a quote before they came out and fixed and serviced the alarm and replaced the battery and no problems since. Getting alarms fixed does not come cheap though.

    In the contract there is a list of what comes with the house and this usually states fixtures and fittings, you can add items to this before signing by the seller. When we were dealing with the solicitor we discussed the issue of standard fixtures and fittings and she said that legally that can be open to interpretation. She had a client who moved into a house that had a fitted kitchen which the seller took with him with the argument that it wasn't a "standard" fixture and fitting as stated in the contract. So if it isn't stated in the contract explicitly you can't count on getting it.

    But in saying that if the seller leaves something in an unsafe condition then you could ask for repair and it would be in their interest to get whatever it is fixed for fear of legal action if an injury were to occur, for example.

    Really all repairs etc. need to be negotiated before purchase when you have some leverage.


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